the real disruption that Apple is bringing with “Apple Pay” is the way the system is implemented: Apple left the carriers out of it. Carriers have been trying for years to control the mobile payments ecosystem, but banks and credit card companies have been reluctance to let them in. Carriers have made several agreements with banks to use their SIM cards as the secure element, but others have chosen to use Host Card Emulation to have a carrier-free solution. Apple Pay brings together the best of both worlds: a secure element present in the iPhone (the Apple Watch needs to be paired with the iPhone for contactless payments) and the contactless solution from NXP.